Blackberry

Typo can no longer sell any keyboards for devices with a screen smaller than 7.9-inches as a result of a recent settlement with BlackBerry.

BlackBerry and Typo have reached a settlement in the case against Typo for the blatant attempts at copying BlackBerry's iconic keyboard design. The two companies have seen each other in court before, but this settlement could mark the end of that.

BlackBerry CEO John Chen has not only weighed in on net neutrality, but bizarrely face-huggered the idea of 'app neutrality' into his statement as well. In other words he thinks Apple should be mandated to make iMessage for BB10 phones. From the BlackBerry blog:

Some of you may or may not be BlackBerry fans, but on the heels of the biggest iPhone to date, the biggest BlackBerry to date has arrived as well. The BlackBerry Passport is the largest, squarest BlackBerry device there is and CrackBerry took it on with both hands. It has design that's optimized to get things done, and with a 3450mAh battery and 32GB of storage, you'll be able to do just that.

Sebastien Marineau-Mes, BlackBerry's SVP of Software, is leaving the ailing smartphone manufacturer for brighter and warmer pastures: Apple. Or at least that's what he's trying to do, if it weren't for those pesky contracts. As revealed in a recent ruling from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice document, Marineau-Mes began discussing leaving BlackBerry for Apple back in September 2013, and was formally offered the position of Vice President of Core OS in December.

He accepted the position and offered his written resignation to BlackBerry on December 23rd, advising them that he'd likely be heading out to Apple in two months time. That's where the legal dispute of BlackBerry Limited v. Marineau-Mes started, as per a contract signed by Marineau-Mes that gave him a promotion to BlackBerry EVP of Platform Development he was required to provide six months notice of his resignation.

To add insult to injury, that contract was signed on September 27, 2013 — both while BlackBerry was under a promotional freeze (except for when you really want to keep somebody) and while Marineau-Mes was in discussions about moving to Apple. So BlackBerry took Marineau-Mes to court, and the court agreed that he should fulfill his six-month notice obligation at the company.

The United States Air Force is replacing 5000 legacy BlackBerry smartphones with Apple's iPhone, and eventually all of their BlackBerry users will have to make the changeover. The announcement, reported by Defense News, comes as the future of BlackBerry within the Department of Defense is debated, with the chips seeming to fall on the side of transitioning away from a network supporting a mish-mash of BlackBerry 6 and 7 devices to a mix of modern devices — though apparently without BlackBerry 10 in that mix. The situation has changed dramatically since this time last year, when the Department of Defense was adamant they weren't dropping BlackBerry.

BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) version 2.0 for iOS is here, and there's a whole heck of a lot of great new stuff included for us to get our social on. The big news is that BBM Voice and BBM Groups have finally escaped BlackBerry 10 exclusivity, and that's before we even look at location sharing and everything else involved. Fortunately, no-one knows BBM like our buddies over at CrackBerry, and they've got us covered with a full look at what's new!

Vector is Mobile Nations' cross-site, cross-platform technology news and analysis show where every week we dive into the biggest stories with the brightest guests. This week Kevin Michaluk of CrackBerry joins Rene to talk about BlackBerry's new direction, what went wrong with the new phone launches — and Alicia Keys! — and how they hope to turn devices, BBM, enterprise, and QNX into a bold new future.

BlackBerry's new CEO has begun articulating his vision for the future once-dominant handset maker, and it's a future that depends on iPhone owners as well. That's because the previously proprietary BBM (BlackBerry Messenger) service is now cross-platform, and enterprise mobile device management now requires support for iOS as well. From Marcus Adolfsson's interview on CrackBerry.com:

CrackBerry's fearless leader Kevin Michaluk loves a good keyboard on his smartphone, so who better to review the much talked about Typo Keyboard for iPhone. It's gaining a lot of attention – for better or for worse – with backing from Ryan Seacrest, and potential BlackBerry instigated lawsuits. But, whether it's a total ripoff or not (though it really looks like it is!) is it actually any good at what it sets out to do?

It's #CESlive and we're talking to Laurence Hallier, CEO of Typo. That's the Bluetooth keyboard for iPhone that American Idol's Ryan Seacrest is giving two big thumbs-up — and on! — to. It attaches to the bottom and makes it look like a classic portrait-style QWERTY keyboard device. What inspired it, and what's going to happen now that BlackBerry is threatening to sue? That's just exactly what we asked!